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CASH BOX NOVEMBER 25, 1995 19 INTERNATIONAL

News From The United Kingdom, Ireland & Europe may be headed for Milan, Ms. Joyce Bigio of American International Bakeries in Milan, is introducing Bagels into Italy and promises to be up and running by B\ Hal Levy the end of the year.

HEADED UP is Andrew Teare who is the new CEO of Rank Organization, IN RECORD TIME: It’s been a year since peace has come to Northern Ireland the British leisure giant. and the government there has finally decided to recognize the music business as a business. The Local Enterprise Development Unit has given a grant to XII AND MOVING ON is the English National Opera which plans to move out of the world famous Coliseum to more modern quarters. Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber Records to help it produce its first release. Label’s The Mandeldrot Set is is said to be interested currently laying down tracks for the company’s debut album, due out early 1996. in the Coliseum because of difficulty in finding a venue for his new musicals, namely A Star Is Bom and Whistle Down The Wind, due to a AND NOT WAITING: Telecide’s members got together their pennies and shortage of large auditoriums. Sir Andrew is also still in the headlines with stories released their own CD, Earth Dies Screaming. The Northern Ireland group figured about his interest in buying United News and Media, publishers of the Daily they couldn’t wait for a government grant. Express and the Sunday Express. CAN DO CANDIDE: Last year PolyGram’s album of theme music from TV’s UK SINGLES: Tonight we’re dining in Coolio’s “Gangsta's Paradise” as our Inspector Morse made it into the classic Top 20 list. Attempting to mine the field first stop. We’ll have a second cocktail “I Believe” by Robson & Jerome, which further, PolyGram has taken half interest in the Leonard Bernstein Music is new on the menu. Another new item is our third appetizer. Oasis’ “Wonder- Publishing Company to make new recordings of Bernstein's music as well as wall.” Queen’s “Heaven For Everyone” slurps up the fourth bowl of soup and welcoming new writers in the middle-of-the-road music area, music that is not naturally in fifth is Meat Loaf’s “I’d Lie For You.” East 17’s “Thunder” is exactly pop, classical or easy listening. sixth on our wine list and we’ll be “Missing” Everything But The Girl’s seven BEAT OUT THE RHYTHM ON THE DRUMS: Virgin Records released veggies but we’ll have Simply Red’s “Fairground” at eight for dessert, being Fearless Brave’s Sacred Spirit in March and it quickly sank. However, the album, kept awake with our ninth cup of coffee with Def Leppard’s “When Love & Hate which features campfire songs of Native Americans set to disco music, was given Collide” and really be needing that brandy “Living Next Door To Alice” with a new cover and video and in its first week of re-release sold more than 100,000 Smokie rounding out the evening. units. Virgin is hoping Sacred Spirit will follow Gregorian Chants into the dollar Top European single is Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” and album is Simply heavens. Silas hit than five million units with their chanting. The Monks more Red’s Life. HOW HIGH WILL IT FLOAT? The Societe Europeanne des Satellites (SES) is aiming at a £1 .2 billion float in the stock market next year. MTV and Murdoch’s BSkyB are major users of SES' ASTRA satellite system. SES has just launched its fifth satellite, dedicated to digital transmissions. Last year’s profits were £86.6 BRAZIL million on sales of £197 million and profits are expected to grow as more channels are added on in Europe. By Christopher Pickard

COMIN’ BACK? Electrafixion’s new single “Never” is due for release this BRAZILIAN MARKET TREMORS: The jury is still out on the Brazilian record week In the early 80s, the group, then known as Echo & The Bunnymen were industry. Figures are still good, but just how good nobody is certain, least of all rated with U2 and Simple Minds as the top Brit groups. the record companies who await the verdict. YES, SAID THE VIRGIN: Virgin Television is going to the UK High Court in 32 million units (CD/LP/cassette) were sold in the first six months of 1995 order to have the Independent Television Commission’s awarding of the new That is 14 million less than the last six months of 1994 but still double that of the television channel to Channel 5 Broadcasting halted. Canadian-led consortium corresponding period in 1994. Analysts explain that the explosion in sales in the UKTV will not contest the decision. second half of 1994 was simply an immediate knee-jerk reaction by the public to ANOTHER OPENING ANOTHER HALL OF FAME: This time it’s for the the new economic plan. Both the plan, the Brazilian economy and sales in all unsung heroes of the music world. The International Managers Forum's Hall sectors of the market have now settled and at levels which should keep Brazil of Fame in London immortalized its first members. Muff Winwood of Sony Soho positioned as the world’s seventh largest music market with annual sales around Square, Rob Dickins of WEA Records, Peter Grant of Led Zeppelin fame and the U.S. $700 million mark. Harvey Goldsmith for Live Aid The record companies are quietly confident that the second half of 1995 will BRUSH UP YOUR RESUME: According to recently published reports, the show an improvement on the first half of the year, but whether they can match the fastest growing business in the world, at more than 20% a year, is Headhunting. figures produced in the second half of 1994 is now in doubt. Total income for headhunting companies is reported to be almost $4 billion a year. Record companies have also had to become a lot more careful in extending Hottest interest is in the executive end of the scale. credit to stores after a number of retailers — including Mesbla, a major chain of CHECKING OUT THE STUBS: The Ticketing Group, which includes ticket department stores —went belly up. Mesbla, which is in receivership but still agencies First Call and Keith Prowse had their shares suspended in order to try operating, is rumored to owe record companies as much as $5 million. Estimates to obtain re-financing. The group, with £5 million in debts, has a 14-day option of the total outstanding debts in the Brazilian market now stand at $18 million but, to obtain financing or else face being sold off. Burrus Investment Group, a New record companies will hope to clear up a good percentage of this as the big year-end Orleans investment company, reportedly is interested, through an affiliate, of taking over the trading business which provides event management, computerized releases force stores into clearing their outstanding debts and restocking. ticketing systems as well as ticket sales. Brazil does, however, remain firmly at the top of the charts when it comes to vinyl sales. 14.5 million vinyl discs were sold in Brazil in 1994, which helped TOFU LUCK Madonna. in London for Evita recording, is facing starvation. Latin America claim a 5 1 share of the totalworld sales of vinyl. Overall. Brazil's She took a group to in-spot Quaglino’s for lunch. But since she neglected to book, % is with sales of 4.5 million units. The U.S. she was shown the door. So, down the street they went to Le Caprice, which was nearest vinyl rival the United Kingdom itself at seven in the vinyl top ten with also full. But all was not lost, the group ended up at the Country Life Cafe, a the world’s largest market, finds number vegetarian restaurant run by members of the Seventh Day Adventists. The bill, sales of just 1.9 million units in 1994. for the six, came to a little over £30 including tip. FREE JAZZ LOOKS AHEAD . The last chords of this year’s Free Jazz Festival HAVE YOU SEEN...? More than 100,000 people have gone to see the films at in Brazil had not even died down and the organisers, Silva and Monique the London Film Festival. With one more week to go, audience already tops last Gardenberg, were already starting to look ahead to October 1996 year's total of 90,000. Revenue of £410,000 is also headed for a record. The results of this year’s festival, the tenth, were generally positive, with the its traditional at the 1,400 seat theatre of the CAFE ESPRESSO: In Milan, the 62nd annual MIFED attracted more than festival moving in Rio from home state-of-the-art setting which 5,000, up 20% from last year, from 80 countries to sell, see and hopefully buy, Hotel National to the 5,000 seat of the Metropolitan the latest independent film and video productions. The larger film companies, like crammed in over 10,000 standing to see the second of Stevie Wonder’s shows Warners and MGM have their own distribution offices worldwide and negotiate with Brazilian Gilberto Gil. directly with local theater chain owners and so they don’t turn out to places like While the Metropolitan got the approval of fans for the larger, more popular

MIFED However, independent producers usually can’t afford to travel around shows such as Wonder, A1 Green and Harry Connick, Jr., it was felt it the world selling their films, so they hook up with international distribution overwhelmed more traditional jazz acts such as Roy Hargrove, Leroy Jones (both companies who for a fee, or a percentage, handle their films on the world market critically acclaimed by the Brazilian critics) and Branford Marsalis' Buckshot by dealing directly with distributors who buy for a specific country, and in turn, LeFonque. The organisers have promised to study the possibility of using more they sell to theater chains. the three are the And major markets AFM in Los than one venue in Rio with the Metropolitan for larger shows and more intimate Angeles, Cannes at the Festival, and MIFED. While emphasis is mainly on feature settings—such as Jazzmania—for the jazz purists. In Sao Paulo the Palace is films and their associated video and TV rights, there are for sale some compilations likely to continue to host the festival while there are plans to extend the event to of musical videos offered as packages. And no film or video is ever considered a third Brazilian city, most likely Porto Alegre in the south of the country. “too old” until it has sold in every of the 170 odd countries in the world. Acts on the organisers’ shopping list for 1996 include Lou Reed, Anita Baker, Smart Egg Pictures, a British company, has come up with Rave— RAVE ON and Eric Clapton, if he will agree to play his blues set.

Dancing To A Different Beal , another fast-moving music oriented film set in the During the festival, the family of the late Tom Jobiin took the opportunity to Los Angeles club scene. It’s directed by Shabba Doo (Adolfo Quinones) and present Branford Marsalis with a signed copy of the Brazilian composer’s score should be opening in the States soon. to Aguas de Marco (Water ofMarch) to take to his father, Ellis. Jobim had promised EAT YOUR HEART OUT: Everyone, especially the Americans, com- AND the score to Ellis, but died before he could send it to him. plained about the food served at the convention center. Well, for those of you who